*GOMEN, GOMEN, GOMEN!!!!!!!!!! I am so so sososoosooooooooooooooooo sorry that it has taken me so long to get this next chapter up… I had a major case of writer block/working on other stuff.!!! Gomen GomenGOmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!!!!! I promise that I'll try harder to get my stuff out faster so that you don't have to wait so long.!!!!!!!! GOMEN!!!! And sorry that it's sooooo short!!!!!
Yahiko, gritting his teeth, ran as fast as he could towards the Akabeko. The street was muddy and his sandals splashed it onto his clothing as he ran. Turning a corner he swiftly approached the Akabeko and when he was close enough he saw that the door had been smashed in. He dashed up to the broken door and skidded inside, pulling his bokutou from its spot on his back. They were still there! A large group of them too!! Yahiko eyed them, sizing them up.
"Hey, what's with this punk kid?!" a rather dumb looking man wearing a green outfit said after taking a swig of a large (stolen) bottle of sake.
"Shut up! Where's Tsubame?" Yahiko questioned.
"Oh, are you looking for this little girl we found in here," a young woman wearing a face covering mask and cloak questioned. Sliding on a pair of bladed wrist guards and a pulling out a strange weapon that consisted of two small solid metal balls attached to ends of a loose piece of rope, she put her foot on the wall next to….
"TSUBAME!!" Yahiko yelled!
"Yahiko!!!!?" Tsubame squealed.
"…. Yahiko is it?" the lady questioned, eyeing the boy in front of her, "So, you're Yahiko…?…. Hmmmm…."
"What's it to you!!" Yahiko stuttered, ready to fight.
"Hmm?" she smiled. "This could be interesting… men!"
Yahiko looked wearily back and forth as, at the woman's command, the people around him stood up and began to look very threatening. Yahiko took a slight step back, and then he lunged forward. "HEEAAAAAA!!!" In his first attack he knocked the drunken man from before off his feet. He turned and swung around to catch another man in his side, but in doing so he left his back open to a charging attack from the woman who had spoken to him earlier. Yahiko sensed her just a second to late. As he turned to intercept her blow, she struck him with her weapon in the side. Ignoring the pain Yahiko continued his swing and it collided soundly with her shoulder.
"DAAAAGGHH!!!! You BRAT!" the woman said spinning around and kicking Yahiko in the face. Landing awkwardly she clutched her left arm and with a sickening crunch popped the bone back into its socked. In the meantime, Yahiko picked himself off of the floor and spit out a small bit of blood. When he attempted to stand up he immediately doubled over and clutched his side where he had been hit earlier. In this moment of anguish the other men that were in the room attacked him and started to beat him over the back. Slowly the woman stood up, ordering the men to stop, and walked over to Yahiko was crumpled up on the ground doing his best to get up. She kicked him in the same side she had hit earlier, rolling him over twice on the floor. "I'll put you in your place, Yahiko!" she said digging her boot into his side.
"NNAAAAGGGH!!!!" he screamed as he felt what must have surly been a rib cracking.
"Hu! now stand up and fight me, you Brat,… if you can!" she said backing away from the grimacing Yahiko.
Yahiko slowly dragged himself to his feet, using his bokutou as a crutch. Breathing heavily he stood his ground ready to fight. She cocked her head and charged, but before Yahiko could even think to raise his bokutou to block the attack, she was behind him. The metal ball shot out of her hand and hit him on the back of his head sending him sprawling onto the ground in front of him. A mad cackle ensued behind him as the woman walked around to his front, his eyes fading in and out of focus. Yahiko looked up as she now stood in front of him. Laughing heartily she grabbed the string that tied her cloak together and pulled it so that it untied from its neat little bow. She then grabbed the mask and pulled it off of her head, letting her long, shiny, black hair swish out behind her. She bent over so that her face was right at the level that Yahiko could see her and she opened her eyes. There were of the most brilliant green color he had seen……... his consciousness left him as he blacked out.
"YAHIKO!!!" Tsubame yelled as she got up an ran over to him. She grabbed a cloth out of her pocket and dabbed a cut that was on his cheek.
The woman laughed as she turned to walk out the door. "Men, lets go… and bring them with you." The men did as told picking up the limp Yahiko and the squealing Tsubame and left the Akabeko.
….